Table Of Content

MICFIOFICHE REFERENCE LBBF?ARY A project of Volunteers in Asia I Bambo o-reinforced Co ncrete . Rarnwater Collection Tanks By: Thomas 8. Fricke Published by: A.T. International 1724 Massachusetts Ave. Washington, D.C. 20036 Available from: A.T. International 1724 Massachusetts Ave. Washington, DC. 20036 Reproduced with permission. . Reproduction of this microfiche document in any form is subject to the same restrictions as those of the original document. I. ,.. ,I a :-... :, /. ,” ‘_, _,- r - . ,:,; . . ._..I -. _-_,_ ..,,a .( -,. :., ” ~ ; .’ ..~’ .’ ,,, ., .‘, ” :-‘, :. . . ; : .. i ,, .’ ,’ _ ; .,:. :. .‘! A., ‘: A.T. International Working Paper . . RAMBOO-REINFORCED CONCRRTE RAINMQER COLLECTION TANKS 0 project of Community-Based Appropriate Te&nology and lkvelopment Services in Thailand) Thomas B. Fricke Series editor: Diane B. Bendahmane Working papers are published as part of A.T. International's efforts to con- tribute to advancing practical knowledge related to the wider utilization of appropriate technology. The views expressed ar'e those of the authors and are not necessarily those of A.T. International or its trustees. A.T. International is a private, non-profit corporation, created in 1977 in response to a mandate from the U.S. Congress to "promote the development and dissemination of technologies appropriate for developing countries." - ,. *. , @ 1982. A,T. International. All rights reserved. Address all inquiries to A.T. International, 1724 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. THE AUTHOR Thomas Fricke is Technology Resources Coordinator for Business and Technology Services at A.T. Intema- tional. Before joining the AT1 staff, he was a program associate at the International Science and Technology Institute where he coordinated environmental and appropriate technology projects. He has also been a consul- tant on a UNIDO mission to establish an appropriate technology center in Indonesia, a project research coordinator on a University of California small farm project, and a staff member of the Farallones Institute. Mr. Fricke served as a village technology volunteer in Indonesia for Volunteers in Asia. A.T. International Working Papers Currently Available . A Commercial Use for Taro ( A Project of the Instituto Matia MuLumba in Colu&ia) Barbara Myers Solar Ruergy Devices for Lesotho ( A Project of the T&#ba Tseka Rural Development Program in Lesotho) Roy Lock Technology Choice, Adaptation, and Adoption ( An Overview of Three Case Studies) Paul Hoover and Laurie Richards Microenterprise Development in the Urban Informal Sxtor ( Case Studies from Brazil and the Philippines) Marshall Bear, Henry Jackelen, and Michael Tiller Write or call A.T. International to obtain a copy of these Working Papers A.T.I. 1724 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Telephone: (202) 861-2900 ABSTRACT The Community-Based Appropriate Technology and Development Services (CBATDS) program has registered significant successes in the introduction and wider dissemination of technologies to provide potable vater to villages in semi-arid drought-prone North- eastern Thailand. CBATDS, an auxiliary of the Pop- ulation and Community Development Association (PDA), has mobilized technical, logistical and financial assistance for the construction of over 1,000 bamboo ' reinforced concrete rainwater collection and storage tanks at the time of the field survey. The tank construction program began in 1979 with a village needs analysis conducted by CBATDS staff. The following year a pilot project proved that numerous villagers in three target districts were willing to participate in the construction and self-financing of household rainwater storage systems. Subsequently CBATDS has developed a methodology combining trained technicians, village construction teams, and soft loan financing which has yielded the current results and a projec- tion for the construction of over 4,000 additional tanks by 1985. CBATDS was created by PDA in 1979 ta support its extensive delivery system of trained village- based family planning volunteers, district supervisors, and central office staff in the operation of broader rural development programs for improving the incomes and quality of life for rural Thais. To date, CBATDS and its sister organizations have carried out a number of promotional activities in water resource development, cottage industries, alternative energy technologies, health and sanitation improvements, agricultural extension, and alternative marketing in selected areas of North and Northeastern Thailand. Most of these programs are predicated on the participation of its family planning acceptors, volunteers and growing staff. I. The Sponsoring Organization .............................. The Population and Convnunity Development Association ..... Agencies Affiliated with PDA ............................. The Formation of CBATDS .................................. CBATDS's Goals ........................................... CBATDS's Geographic Focus ................................ OS's Approach ........................................ CBATDS's Decision-Making Process ......................... CBATDS's Activities ...................................... II. The Project .............................................. Problem Xdentificatkn ................................... The Survey ............................................... Dissemination Strategy ................................... 12 The Pilot Project ........................................ 13 Tungnam I ................................................ 15 A.T. International Support ............................... 18 Support of Other Organizations ........................... 22 1 III. The Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*.......o.................. 23 Basic Description ........................................ 23 costs .................................................... 31 Design Tolerances ........................................ 34 Utilization of Local Resources ........................... 35 Anticipated Benefits ..................................... 36 VI. Conclusions ..*.-................................*....,... 39 Review of Hypotheses ..................................... 40 Other Issues ............................................. 44 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*........................ 49 Author's Note This study of the Community-Based Appropriate Technology and Development Services (CBATDS) Rainwater Collection and Storage Project in Northeastern Thailand attempts to illumi- nate the socio-economic, technical, and organizational issues involved in technology adaptation and dissemination. The study is the result of a field survey I conducted iu Thailand from February 22 through March 4, 1982. During that period, various interviews and site visitations were conducted with the field staff of CBATDS, users of technology, commercial enterprises, and other government and private development agencies in Thailand. Because of the limitations of this kind of field survey, my conclusions about this project have to be read as tentative. A.T. International enters into support funding relationships with private agencies in developing countries primarily to enhance their abilities to evolve and promote technologies and processes responding to community needs. This assistance may be targeted for very specific predetermined technologies, geographic areas, users, and production systems, or allow for a process of experimentation and innovation which will eventually lead to more precise outcomes. In this study three key components of the technology adaptation process are isolated and analyzed in greater detail -- the sponsoring organization, the technologies involved, and the role of external assistance (if any), using a number of hypotheses developed by the staff of the evaluation department at ATI. Although I was working as an operations representative wlith the Asia/Middle East team at A.T. International during the time the tank construction project was being implemented, I had no direct responsibility for the project, and this visit to the project site was my first extensive visit. The CBATDS Rainwater Tank Project illustrates how flexible support for institutional development -- broadly defined -- can result in successful technology adaptation and dissemination. Thomas B. Fricke August 17, 1982 Washington, D.C. I THE SPONSORING ORGANIZATION The Population and Community Development Association The Community Based Appropriate Technology and Development Services (CBATDS) was established in December 1978 to expand and improve upon the development work of the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) and its major implementing bureau, the Community-Based Family Planning Services (CBFPS), based in Bangkok, Thailand. Since its inception in 1974 under the dynamic and controversial leadership of its general secretary, Meechai Viravaidya, PDA has extended a family planning service network to approximately 16,200 villages throughout Thailand or one-third of the country's villages. PDA is acknowledged by many outside observers to be one of the most successful and extensive programs of its kind in the developing world. Overall, PDA has become the largest private development agency in Thailand, with a staff of nearly 500 for all its various affiliated divisions- PDA is a registered tax-exempt non-profit organization engs%td in service delivery in family planning, parasite control, sanitation, general health., and community development. Generally operating in close collabora- tion with government agencies, it is active on the village level but also carries out projects is some urban communities. Agencies Affiliated with PDA The Community-Based Family Planning Services (CBFPS). CBFPS is the major bureau of the PDA and the entry point for many PDA staff. Since 1974 it has implemented community-based family planning services and activities primarily in Thai villages and some urban communities. Family planning volunteers, all of whom are long-standing community members chosen for the respect in which they are held in their villages, have been trained and deployed in 16,200 villages in 150 districts with a population of 16 million people. Activities have now been expanded to include maternal and child health, nutrition , parasite control, immunization, primary health care, and sanitation. -l- 2 Rainwater Collection Tanks In other programs, the CBFPS has provided family planning, health, sanitation, nutrition, and medical information and education to 320,000 rural school teachers, 304 commercial and industrial firms, state enterprises, cooperatives, and military organizations. PDA's greatest successes'to date have been registered in CBFPS's ability to deliver goods and services (i.e., birth control pills, condoms, other contraceptives, and family planning information) directly at the village level. The network which depends upon village volunteers (who receive a commission from sales of contraceptives), district supervisors, and a Bangkok- based staff, has registered impressive achievements in generating six to eight million family planning acceptors. Government services may disperse advice and devices free of charge, but they have been relatively ineffective because people must make the effort to avail themselves of the services. The Asian Centre for Population and Cornunity Development (ACPD). In mid-1978, the center was established under the umbrella of PDA to facilitate the transfer of experience in community action concepts in population management and development activities among developing countries. ACPD provides a series of international training programs on community-based development. By February 1982, the center had trained over 500 participants from various developing countries, ranging from Kenya in Africa to Bangladesh in South Asia. TheOCommunity-Based Emergency Relief Services (CBERS). CBERS was established to assist the royal Thai government in providing relief services to communities and displaced persons. In response to the Kampuchean refugee crisis in 1939 CBERS joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UXHCR) and other international voluntary agencies in the general relief effort involving 150,000 Kampuchean refugees living in holding centers in the eastern and northeastern sections of the country. Programs offered by CBERS range from family planning, parasite control, preventive health education, traditional medicine, and comprehensive sanitation services to agri- culture, skills development, and food supplementation. In cooperation with CBATDS, CBERS is providing daily food rations to all refugees living in the two largest holding centers ior Kampucheans in Thailand with produce bought directly from small Thai farmers. At present CXRS is the largest private Thai agency providing refugee relief services in Thailand. The Formation of CBATDS When experience showed that family planning alone was not .enough, CBFPS increasingly concerned itself with other problems directly affecting daily life including unemployment and low incomes. In an attempt to address some of these problems a number of small income generating projects were carried out on a small scale by local communities and CBFPS field staff and volunteers. More technical and financial assistance was required before anything could be done on a large scale. Hence, CBATDS was founded to fill the gap between local efforts at problem solving and the necessary technical and financial support needed. The basic premise upon which CBATDS was formed is that the delivery system (what CBATDS calls "change agents") established for family planning could be utilized for "delivering" the knowledge and material input associated with household water supply and sanitation, livestock production, and other activities. (Bruns, 1981.) Family planning acceptors have been the main beneficiaries of these new programming initiatives, receiving priority inputs and preferential credit rates. Now in its fourth year, CBATDS has received grants totalling approximately US $4,000,000 for implementation of field projects through 1983. These include the second phase of the rainwater tank project and the Community Based Inte- grated Rural Development (CBIRD) project in Buriram Proviince, Northeastern Thailand. Additional projects involving some- where in the neighborhood of US $3,500,000 in grant monies are currently pending. With its staff of over 90, including administrators, field supervisors, clerical staff, and technicians, CBATDS is a large scale operation in comparison with most other non-governmental organizations in Thailand and other developing countries. The creation of CBATDS was both a response to increasing perceived demands for more comprehensive development program- ing at the village level and an opportunity for PDA to diver- sify and expand its funding base. Various reasons have been given for this expansion. Critics of the organization question such rapid growth and are wary of linking family planning and development programs. CBATDS's Goals Accord+! to its own statement of purpose CCBATDS Annual Report), CBATDti @ "seeks maximization of the common people's participation in the develonment Drocess as its strategic 4 Rainwater Coilection Tanks objective, hence the term 'community-based."' CBATDS's "end product" is “the enhancement of the quality of life." "In the development process," the statement continues, "CBATDS aims to promote low cost, ecologically sound appropriate technologies that are compatible with rural Thai social, cultural, and economic conditions," and 'to introduce change gently on a small scale, and to create trust, credibility and tangible benefits to individuals and communities." Its longer term goals are "to strengthen . . . local and regional groups in conducting appropriate technology dissemination services," "to assist Thai government efforts in promoting integrated rural development," and 'to assist Thai government and international aid agencies in determining the minimum input requirements for pro- motion of village-level technologies." _CBATDS's Geographic Focus CBATDS's activities to date have been concentrated in fodr provinces of Northeastern Thailand (Khan Kaen, Surin, Mahasara- kham, and Buriram) and one province of Northern Thailand (Chiang Rai).- Additional provinces in Northeastern Thailand, including Nakhon Ratchasima, Sisaket, and Ubon Ratchathani, will soon be added. Concentrated projects involving rainwater catchment and storage technologies were initiated in Khon Kaen and Mahasarakham provinces and are projected to expand to Buriram province, all in Northeastern Thailand. Northeastern Thailand presents rather formidable development challenges, including a fragile drought-prone semi-arid agricultural base, a disproportionately large population, the highest incidence of poverty in the kingdom, and the political instability related to being a frontline border region facing Laos and Kampuchia. A regional profile of Northeastern Thailand appears here as Table 1. CBATDS's Approach CBATDS claims to act as a catalyst to mobilize rural villagers into self-help projects and mutual assistance groups to upgrade their living conditions and to create employment and income opportunities. 'While CBATDS oftrn takes the initiatives, it attempts to minimize the disruptive potential of rural development interventions and recognizes the complex social and economic systems of the village environment. Accordingly, CBATDS utilizes local officials, technicians, and laborers during project implementation while simultaneously attempting to strengthen village links with government officials, who are encouraged to participate in Sponsoring Organization 5 Table 1 PROFILE OF NORTHEASTERN THAILAND Number of provinces 16 Total population X,792,825 Area (lcm2) 185,156 Population density (persons/km21 85.3 Average annual rainfall (mm) 1,250 Average annual days of rainfall 95 Average farm size (hectares) 4 Average farm household income (baht) 10,280 Average family size (persons) 7 This chart is taken from the February 1982 CBATDS's Proposal for Rain Water Collection and Storage Project (Tungnam 11). 6 Rainwater Collection Tanks project activities. According to CBATDS, villagers are encouraged to play an integral role in all phases of the small-scale projects -- in design, construction, maintenance, and financing. As in the PDA's family planning program, CBATDS propagates and pro- mulgates its projects through creative self-financing schemes, which combine cooperation and ownership. Therefore, it is hoped that villagers are instilled with a sense of confidence and pride in their own capabilities. The initial entry point into communities in all cases of CBATDS development activities was through the family planning campaigns, although the propaganda stunts devised by Khun Meechai to promote famiPy -l---*-- (such as passing out condoms to drivers stalled in ~iOL“&AAq$ Bangkok's notorious traffic jams) are not a part of the water-tank construction project. Local family planning volunteers, who act as CBATDS's main contacts for local development activities, are often influential and informed people in their communities. These are traders, farmers, shopkeepers, ricemill operators, silk pro- ducers, village council members, etc., who have a personal and collective stake in village self-improvement and economic advancement. CBATDS's Decision-Making Process CBATDS, by virtue of its relationship with PDA, has inherited a decision-making process which combines centralized planning and management in Bangkok with local structures for problem identifi- cation and program implementation. Allocation of funds and other resources and staff selection invariably take place at headquarters, in response to information feedback and requests from the field. Similarly, headquarters sees that the field activities of local volunteers and technicians are monitored closely. CBATDS repre- sents itself in proposals and reports as a more decentralized organization that it actually appears to be. The continuation of centralized decision-making authority in Khun Meechai and his immediate subordinates apparently has its analogs in traditional and contemporary Thai society. This stress on "charismatic entrepreneurship" explains much of the success at raising funds and gaining influence achieved by the organization. CBATDS's Activities In its first annual report (19811, CBATDS reported that outside of the water-tank construction project (described in the next chapter), its major activity was an alternative marketing program (the Small Farmer Fair Price Marketing Program) designed to address the major problem facing rural farmers: lack of reliable markets. Participating farmers